Ashfield closes bring bank sites as kerbside recycling grows

The Nottinghamshire district will keep 12 supermarket-based recycling points, but has decided to remove bring banks from eight pub car parks.

” The amount of recycling going on there now was so small, it wasn't really viable any more. “
– Bill Buckley, Ashfield DC
The district, a mainly urban authority between Nottingham city and North Mansfield, is achieving a 30% recycling rate at present without collecting green waste separately.

Households are offered a fortnightly kerbside recycling service for all main materials collected in a 240-litre bin, with glass collected separately in blue boxes. The service is run on alternate weeks to the fortnightly residual waste collections.

Ashfield's head of neighbourhood services, Bill Buckley, explained that the decision to close the recycling centres had come because of the success of the kerbside scheme.

“The amount of recycling going on there now was so small, it wasn't really viable any more,” he said. “Because of the drop-off in use, we're just using the 12 bring bank sites in supermarkets now.”

Mr Buckley said the district was seeing a 97% participation rate for its dry recyclables scheme, with a 66% participation rate for the blue box glass service.

Commercial glass
Ashfield's decision to close the bring banks in the eight pub car parks had also taken partly because the banks had been used by the pubs for their commercial waste arisings.

Mr Buckley said: “The pub landlords were using the bring banks for their commercial glass. We've now put in a commercial glass collection service.”

Other recycling services offered to residents in Ashfield include a new bulky waste re-use and recycling scheme, and a textile scheme run in partnership with local community groups to collect old clothing.

Green waste
Ashfield is piloting a new green waste collection scheme among 6,500 homes, but is waiting for the release of England's new waste strategy – expected to be published in February/March 2007 – before it takes a decision on whether to roll out a full scheme.

Mr Buckley said: “We're achieving a 30% recycling rate, and that's without even going for green waste – if we roll that out, it would give us another 10 to 15% on our recycling rate. We're doing a pilot, but we're waiting for the government waste strategy to come out before rolling out a full scheme.”